Autumn is here..

and how could I not know it...

Last month was still hot and stuffy, with the mercury rising to 28-26 degrees Celsius.. yet this month onwards, the temperature is hovering between 22-18 degrees, and sometimes with the wind and rain, it might dropped till 15 degree!!

Those who knew me well would know that I dislike cold weather.. :x I even complained about the office temperature when it went under 23 degree!! Now I can't do anything about the weather here.. :( :( except to wear longer and more layers of clothes.. My nose has been acting up quite frequently and I have not yet figure out how to keep it from "running"..

Looks like I would need to fork out a small fortune to equip myself with long-sleeves, jackets, sweaters and coats.. Here the people wear more than 1 layer of clothings, instead of 1 thick clothes.. Why? cos while indoors, with the heater on, it would be too hot with the jacket/sweater/coat on.. For someone who don't really care much about dressing up, it poses a big headache.. especially the matching of colors and whatever.. For me, comfortability is the main concern and in the tropics a nicely designed shirt/blouse will do, but in the temperate countries, one has to make sure that the blouse, outer-wear, jacket/coat matches with one's pants and shoes!!! :x

In the end, I decided... To the heck with what other thinks! As long as I'm neat, tidy and comfortable, I don't give a damn if what I'm wearing clashes or whatever.. It is all about the issue of perspectives and social norm.. Since I'm not Japanese, I will not conform to what the Japanese society expects. As long as I don't go against it too much and give it due respect, I think I can get away with it.. since I am a foreigner!! :p :p

Sometimes I wonder how big one's wardrobe has to be in temperate countries with 4 seasons.. Imagine wearing at least 3 different sets of clothes during hot (summer), cool (spring and early autumn) and cold (end autumn to winter) weathers.. No wonder shopping become the national past-time for ladies!! Especially in Japan, when one's appearance takes precedence (aka the main consideration) in almost every aspect of life here.. People are 'obsessed' with what their friends or colleagues wear and it most probably will becomes a topic of gossip or judgment! This is one more reason that I am reluctant to consider working here.. I want to spend my time and energy thinking of ways to improve (myself, my team, my dept, etc) and contribute to the company, and not to worry about what I should wear and in the end, being pre-judged and discriminated against due to my lack of 'fashionable dress sense'.. So what if I wear the same sets of clothes whole year round? I am NOT defined by what I wear, what's inside is more important as a differentiator than what is outside! Maybe it's because there is nothing much inside that one has to try to compensate by wearing something that would make them stand out!!

I'm not against people who wants to dress up, but please do it to show your good features and hide/camouflage the bad ones.... Sometimes it's an eye-sore looking at 'dumplings' (aka ladies who like to wear tight shirt/blouse/jeans/pants that would just 'showcase' their fats! Sometimes one just can't pity that piece of clothing that is trying it's best to hold everything together), 'fake blonds' (aka people who used at least half a gallon of bleach to take out their natural hair color, which is black, and turned themselves into blonds! But Asians with blond hair are just plain weird-looking..), 'Marge Simpson' (aka ladies with hair that are either the leaning tower of Pisa, a bee hive or just one big mess!) and 'Metrosexual-gone-astray' (aka guys who cant decide if they want to remain as guys or become girls. With the amount of make-up, grooming or whatever they are doing, they definitely put me to shame. And the way they carry themselves is soooooo gay!)...

But again, I strongly believed that everyone has their rights to dress as they like, so I think I would just close my eyes whenever I see any of them or look at them as one of the 'quaint exhibit' on display.... :p :p